If you're reading this consider yourself tagged

I've never posted one of these on my blog before so I thought I'd do it now...since I enjoyed reading Shannon's and Krystn's so much:

1. What time did you get up this morning? 5:30. I know, it's crazy.
2. Diamonds or Pearls? Diamonds all the way.
3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Flicka and it was awesome!
4. What is your favorite TV show? Amazing Race.
5. What did you have for breakfast? About 3 cups of coffee and 2 fudge stripe cookies.
6. What is your middle name? Marie.
7. What is your favorite cuisine? Italian or a good steak (is that a cuisine?)
8. What foods do you dislike? Chinese
9. Your favorite potato chip? Sour Cream and Onion. I always have a bag going. I'm eating some right now as a matter of fact.
10. What is your favorite CD at the moment? CD? What's that? My current favorite song is Rockstar by Nickleback...I think I'll listen to it right now.
11. What kind of car do you drive? Big, fat Suburban.
12. Favorite Sandwich? I don't eat that many sandwiches but I'll say the New Yorker from Jason's Deli.
13. What characteristics do you despise? Mean-ness
14. What are your favorite clothes? Anything that makes me look and feel good...it usually consists of some form of high heeled shoe though.
15. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would itbe? the South Pacific
16. What color are your eyes? grey-ish.
17. Favorite brand of clothing?Currently...Ann Taylor Loft...mainly becuase it's convenient.
18. Where would you want to retire? Ocean front somewhere...maybe South Carolina.
19. Favorite time of day? After 8:00 p.m...bedtime for the 3 Js.
20. Where were you born? Detroit, MI.
21. What is your favorite sport to watch? Hmmmm....I guess if I have to give an answer I'll say college football or gymnastics (when Jordan is competing).
22. Who do you think will not send this back? n/a .
23. Person you expect to send it back first? see above
24. Pepsi or Coke? Coke. Diet.
25. Cats or Dogs? Dogs for sure.
26. Are you a morning person or a night owl? Night owl.
27. Pedicure or manicure? Manicures I do out of necessity; pedicures out of pleasure.
28. Do you prefer funny or mushy cards? I like them both.
29. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share with everyone? New and exciting? No.
30. What did you want to be when you were little? I don't really remember, but I'm sure vet was in there at some point as well as teacher.
31. What do you have in your trunk right now? I don't have a trunk, but in the cargo area of the suburban I have 2 folding chairs, a basket full of books for the sfe bookclub that I need to take to Kinko's to get copies made of the covers for posters, a tile that I'm supposed to see if it matches the tile around our pool that we need to replace only I keep forgetting to do it, my tennis bag, and I'm sure at least one bag of something that needs to be returned.
32. What is your best childhood memory? All the horseback riding I did.
33. What are the different jobs you have had in your life? All manner of dishwasher, busboy, and waitress; retail; various jobs in marketing once I started my "career."
34. Favorite Holiday? Does my birthday count? If not, I'll say Thanksgiving. Not all the stress of gift buying but all the comraderie of family and friends and tons of good food.
35. What is your favorite dessert? I love the idea of dessert, but 99% of the time I'm too full from dinner to have it. If I had to pick I'd say something like tiramisu.
36. Favorite Summer getaway? The beach. And I don't mean Galveston. I'm talking Destin, Fl or maybe Gulf Shores, Al.
37. Ever been to Africa ? No, but it's on the list.
38. Glasses or Contacts? Contacts since I was about 13.
39. Ever been toilet papering? No.
40. Been in a car accident? Yes.
41. Favorite day of the week? Friday.
42. Favorite restaurant? Gibson's steakhouse in Chicago...had one of the best meals I can remember there.
43. Favorite flower? Tulips.
44. Favorite movies? Sliding Doors.
45. Favorite Pastime? Photography. Used to be scrapbooking but haven't done that lately...really want to get back to it.
46. Favorite ice cream? Baskin Robbins mint chocolate chip.
47. Favorite fast food restaurant? Sonic, mainly for the drinks...styrofoam cups and tons of crushed ice.
48. How many times did you fail your drivers test? None.
49. From whom did you get your last email? Had to go look. Another 4th grade room mom at Shadow Forest. Before that it was Jim...he's out of town.
50. Sandals or tennis shoes? Sandals, definitely.
51. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? DSW.
52. If the speed limit is 60 what is the fastest you will drive? 65.
53. Bedtime? If Jim is in town we go to bed around 11:00. If he's traveling I tend to stay up until about 12:00.
54. Who are you most curious about their responses to this? Everyone. I'm nosey.
55. Last person you went to dinner with? My girlfriends, the Fab 5.
56. What are you listening to right now? Jay Leno and the Borat guy on the tv.
57. What is your favorite color? Yellow.
58. How may tattoos do you have? None.
59. How many people are you sending this Email to? No one, but if you're reading this consider yourself tagged.
60. What time did you finish this email? Well, it's not an email but it's 11:47 p.m.

Another Week Gone By...

Man, I wish I could get the hang of blogging more regularly. I'm really enjoying Ali E.'s blog lately. I get her e-zine and it reminds me to check her blog. She's one busy woman and she blogs all the time. How does she do it? There was a quote on her blog last week that I wanted to post here. I didn't get to it and it's gone now, but it was basically about how to get up and live your life each day in a more positive fashion. I need that reminder right now. This week, in addition to the fact that her husband is running for office, she wrote about stamping and linked a very cool web site...catslife press. Loved some of their stamps.

Speaking of running for office, today is election day. Jim and I are definitely the odd men out here in Texas but we did our part anyway. This year I voted straight democratic ticket. I've never done that before. Usually try to sort through and vote based on my preference for each individual. This year, I just can't take the hypocrisy and ignorance any more and am looking for sweeping change. Not that any of the guys (or girls) I voted for will be better but one can always hope.

The biggest thing that happened in our lives last week was halloween. As halloweens go it was a good one. I'm not a fan of the holiday; never have been, even as a kid. I just don't like scary things or costumes or even candy that much. But my kids love it so I try.

Jackson and Jordan had their costume parade at school first thing at 8:15. Then, Jensen had to be at school at 8:45 and her little parade was scheduled for 9:00. Getting three kids dressed in a costume in time for school stresses me out. I mean, getting them dressed in regular attire is stressful enough.

I have to say they did look cute. Jackson wanted to be a scary, evil vampire but ended up looking more like Eddie Munster. Jordan didn't want to wear most of her Hermione costume and decided as the evening wore on the she was a "business woman" instead. And Jensen was Snow White...just one of many princess choices she had in her repertoire.

We had our usual block party on Misty River Trail. My sil, Cindi, hosts a similar function in her neighborhood and calls it "halloweenie roast." I just love that and that's what we're going to call ours from now on! I love our neighborhood and was glad that we could be there for the festivities...it has such a communal feeling with everyone walking around talking to everyone. Maybe I like halloween after all.

In the past week...

this is what we've done:

Jordan had her last gymnastics meet of the season. Jim went this time since I was originally supposed to be going to Easterby's Edibles that day to make meals. I didn't end up getting to do that since Jensen was sick. This is the only meet that Jim has gotten to go to and I think he enjoyed it. It was fun for me to look at the pictures he took instead of the other way around. Jordan did well improving a few of her scores. Now it's just more practice until next season. She'll continue to practice 8 hours a week almost every week...it goes up to 9 hours in the summer...to compete in just 5 meets. Seems kind of crazy to me but she loves it so I guess we'll continue to let her do it.

Went to the Texas Renaissance Festival on Sunday and took two of the kids' friends...Austin and Kristina. Please remind me not to do this again. The kids do have fun...especially the boys with all the knights and jousting, etc. But the costumes that some people wear who attend these types of festivals are just ridiculous...so risque. Plus, some of the people are dressed in really scary costumes and Jensen was afraid of several of them that we saw. Plus, it's ridiculously expensive and it's an hour and a half drive each way. I don't think I need many more reasons than that for not going again.

Jensen had her first preschool field trip. It was to the fire station. She wasn't really all that interested though in the fire engines or squirting the water out of the hose like most of the other kids. The other girl in the picture with the hoses (Grace) is so into it and Jensen looks completely indifferent. This fire station we go to for field trips has a cool "smoke" room. It's a room that's filled with furniture like a living room and they can pump non toxic smoke into it. The kids and parents practice the "fall and crawl" to get out of the room. Very cool learning experience although a little scary for the kids. A little scary for me to given our experience of actually being in a fire. We were so lucky to get out of our house when we did becuase you really can't see at all when the room is filled with smoke.

Jensen also got bit by another girl at school this week. This is the first time any of our kids has been bitten by another kid. It didn't break the skin but you could very clearly see the little circle of teeth marks on her arm. Her and the other girl were both trying to see something through a window and were pushing each other to get a better view when the other girl just leaned down and bit Jensen! I think Jensen was pretty shocked. I really hope that doesn't happen again.

Had craft night with the girls where we embellished t-shirts using hot-fix crystals. Really cool and fun technique. I made a halloween theme shirt. Maybe I'll take a pic of it and post.

Today the kids had no school so I tried my best to fill up their time. We went to the Mudpie Co., along with half of Kingwood, to paint pottery. The kids have been bugging me to go. Jackson's had his eye on this big dragon head to paint for months since Jordan went to a party there and we went to pick her up. The kids each painted something and I started on gifts for the teachers. Thanks to Heather I've got tons of gift ideas for people. I hope to get back to finish my project next week.

I've been feeling more despondent lately about our housing situation. It appears we won't be in our house until well after the new year I'm sure. We've started legal action against our contractor and that seems to really drag things out. He's stopped all work on the house so...we're faced with another holiday season not in our own home. I really miss my house and all the space and comfort we had. I miss my neighborhood, not just for myself but for the kids. They really can't play outside here and they don't have their friends around them. I try to keep them connected with our street and we really are over there all the time, but it's just not the same. I think I've been pretty upbeat and positive for the most part about our situation but, frankly, I'm just tired of it. I want my house back.

And that's been my week.

We're going on a cruise

If ever a family needed a vacation it is us. We decided since they have cruise ships that depart right out of Galveston that we'd try one. So, on Dec. 3rd we'll be doing this . If you have a family of 5 or more it's actually not that easy to find a cruise since most ship cabins only accommodate up to 4 people. Royal Caribbean has a cabin called a Family Stateroom that sleeps up to 6 so we should be good. Besides, Royal Caribbean uses that Iggy Pop song in their ads so they can't be all bad. We're going to Key West, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel...all places I've never been so I'm excited.

The campout

It sounded like a great time...fire building, first aid, knot tieing, recon missions, fort building, campfire stories, not much sleep, hiking. Whew.

12 on the 12th of October

Many days later...here are my 12 photos from the 12th of October.

1. This photo shows two things...one, I'm usually running late in the morning. The clock shows 8:46 and we are on our way to drop Jensen off at preschool. She's supposed to be there by 8:45. Two, my current favorite XM radio station...Flight 26.

2. Gas price this day was $2.02. Not bad so I filled up. Should have waited a couple of days as it went down to $1.98!

3. While at the gas station I ran in to get a breakfast taco and a diet coke. Breakfast of champions. Seriously, this is the best breakfast taco in town.

4. & 5. Jackson was invited to be the guest reader in Mrs. Snyder's (his former preschool teacher) pre-k 4 class at Holy Comforter. He was so excited since it meant he could get out of regular school for a little while. We were excited because it got him to practice reading without us having to nag him. In the group photo I'm a little chagrined that Jackson isn't much taller than the 4 year olds. Jensen got out of her regular class to go listen to Jackson read and was sooo proud. She kept saying he was "teaching" the class. Now that's a scary thought.

6. After school and it's naptime for Jensen. Unfortunately, there's no time in our schedule some days for a nap.

7. The exterior of the house...I think the only changes since last month are that the columns were finally re-framed correctly and the remainder of the brick was installed. Still waiting on the stone.

8. Most of the downstairs tile flooring was laid. Don't let this photo fool you. It might look good but everything is really a mess. We're in a terrible fight with our contractor and don't expect much more work to get done until we go to arbitration. I do love the tile laid on the diagonal though.

9. The clock says 3:34 and the kids are now in the car after school pick up. We're on our way to drop Jordan off at gym practice and the radio is tuned to radio disney. Sigh.

10. Surly Jackson.

11. Jackson is getting ready for his first cub scout camp out. He and Jim have bought tons of camping equipment including this supply of cookware. This has all entailed many trips to Gander Mountain and many non-essential purchases.

12. Jordan, home after gym practice. Many nights she's in tears due to sheer exhaustion. Tonight she managed a laugh.

Another Meet Down

Jordan had a gymnastics meet today. She didn't compete last week becuase she had a sprained wrist and wasn't able to practice the entire week before. This week she did awesome! She improved 3 out of 4 of her scores. I love looking at pictures from her meets. I can't believe sometimes how determined she looks and how strong she is. I'm so proud of her.

These pics follow the olympic order of events--bars, beam, floor vault--fyi. :-)

Mirror, mirror on the wall...

I asked from the other room, "Jensen,what are you doing in there?" She said, "I'm putting hairbows in like you wanted." Oh, okay.

I Saw a Baby Elephant

Okay, we went to the zoo but with 9 kids and only 4 moms my eyes, hands, and feet were way too busy to take any pictures. We had a pretty good time...the weather was bearable and we got outta there in under 3 hours! But the best part for me was seeing the new baby elephant that we have at our zoo. He was just born on October 1st and I think yesterday was the first day he was out where the public could see him. I so wish I had had a chance to pull out my camera, but I guess the photos on his blog will have to do.

I've never seen a baby elephant before so I thought it was pretty cool. He had tons of wiry hair and they had this huge yellow scrub brush looking thing that he kept rubbing up against. I could have stood there and watched him all day, but the 9 kids I mentioned before were off and running.

Had my second tennis lesson today. My friend Dorothy joined me. The time just flew...which is good when any kind of running in humid 80 degree weather is involved. I'm going back again next week.

Got to see the proofs today from the kids' photo shoot...too cute.

A few weeks ago we finally actually filed suit against Ford Motor Co. and got our first assignment. Our attorney sent us the "interrogatories" that we have to complete by Nov. 3rd. When I was reading through them my stomach literally started to hurt. It's a lot of information to complete and not really that much time. Wish us luck.

The rest of the story...

Here's the few other pics I wanted to upload to my previous post. Love the second picture!

Not much exciting happened last week except that I took a tennis lesson! 30 minute private lesson...and I'm actually going back again this week. This time though I'm going to do an hour lesson with a friend there also. I'm looking for some activity to get me out of the house, and the stores, and get some exercise. Plus, tennis can be really social, which is a bonus! I'll keep you posted on how it goes...and how long it lasts.

This weekend pretty much stunk! Jensen got sick out of the blue Friday evening. We went swimming at a friend's after school...and for mommy happy hour...and on the way home she vomited in the car! It didn't stop until Saturday evening. And still today she wasn't quite herself. So we've been kind of cooped up.

Saturday a.m. I did get out for a little bit to go to Easterby's Edibles. It's a make and take dinner place where you make 6 or 8 or 12 meals to put in your freezer. I just went in for a trial run and made two items. It's perfect for my current situation in this apartment where I have very little kitchen space and cooking implements. Later this month I think I'm going to go for a full blown session. It'll be so cool to have dinners in my freezer that I can just pull out and put in the oven.

Tomorrow there's no school and we're going to the zoo...so expect more pictures.

Kemah (otherwise known as "escape from the apartment for the day")

We didn't really have any plans for the day last Saturday...and that situation can not be allowed to occur two days in a row. Trying to entertain 3 kids in this apartment is beyond my capabilities as a parent. So, on Sunday we decided to go to the Kemah Boardwalk for the day. It was hotter than hades but we managed to have a great time in spite of all the sweat. I complain alot about FFF but sometimes it really is fun.

I love this first photo...it is when we first got there and you can see an arm and a leg running off the right edge of the picture. That's Jensen refusing to be photographed.

We rode lots of rides...well all the others did. I don't do rides. I just get too sick. I took Jensen on one of the kiddie rides and was feeling nauseous after that. I don't even really like the ferris wheel.

I definitely didn't ride this ride! But Jim did plus many others. Poor guy.

Dang! I had a few more pics to add but blogger won't let me including my favorite of the day...just think 4 kids feeding stingrays...makes for good photos. I guess I'll just have to create another post tomorrow with those pics. In the meantime, if you can't stand the suspense, here's the link to the rest of the photos.

Jensen Loves Animals

Our whole family is basically pro-animal, but Jensen is another story. This girl loves animals...both stuffed and real. I let her bring her whole menagerie of stuffed animals to the apartment and each and every day I am faced with variations on this scene. And believe me, in a two bedroom apartment they take up a lot of room strewn all over the place. And notice how most of them have their own individual blanket...because they get cold. And she uses all sorts of things for blankets because we don't have enough actual blankets for each and every one of them to have their own but they can't possibly share. She uses towels, clothes, anything else she can find.

She loves real animals even more than these stuffed ones. When we went to the beach she brought a minnow home in a water bottle. It "lived" on the balcony in that bottle for several days. She would not be convinced that it had expired and she had to visit it every day. Finally I just threw it away...I didn't know what else to do.

Jackson caught a very small lizard on the same balcony and Jensen insisted on keeping it in a bucket. I think it died the instant Jackson grabbed it by the tail, but Jensen would not believe it and kept it as a "pet" for several days until I finally just threw it away...I didn't know what else to do.

She begs to go visit friends of ours that have pets. One friend has a guinea pig (which Jensen calls a "piggy pig"...so cute) she likes to just hold on her lap for an hour at a time. She doesn't sit still for an hour at any other time but she will to hold the piggy pig.

One of her favorite activities is to go the pet store. She loves, loves, loves the ferrets. And I can't stand those little rodents. Jim had one in college and for a few years after...yuck. She would stay at the store as long as we let her going from animal to animal and back again over and over.

I don't know what we're going to do but I know one thing...we'll be getting another dog shortly after moving back into our house. But this time it's going to be a little dog.

Are you a deleter?

For all you TiVo fanatics out there, of which I'm one, when you've watched a program that's recorded do you immediately delete it or not? In our house we call Jim "the deleter" because he just randomly and arbitrarily deletes programs without any regard to whether everyone who may have wanted to watch that program has had a chance to do so or not. Can you tell I'm bitter?

I, on the other hand, can't stand to press that delete button. What if I want to watch that same show at some other time in the future? Much better for the TiVo brain to decide for me when it should be deleted.

On another TiVo topic, what do you have on your To Do list? Just for tomorrow, Thursday, we have 17 shows that are set to record!!! Because I know you're dying to know here's the list: Project Runway, Dora the Explorer, The Wonder Pets, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, 30 Minute Meals, Full House (twice), Arthur, Cyberchase, 30 Minute Meals (again and again...that's 3 times in one day), The Most Extreme (a weird Animal Planet show that Jackson likes), Survivor (of course), Grey's Anatomy (of course!), ER (why? I don't know), The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, $40 a Day (Rachel Ray gets way too much of my TiVo time). What's on your To Do List? I wanna know.

Second Gymnastics Meet...4 More to Go

Jordan's second meet was last Sunday. Her session started at 4:00 p.m. at a gym that was about an hour away. The meet ended at about 8:00 and the coaches and some team members and their parents wanted to get something to eat after...and Jordan wanted to go too. That meant that we didn't get home until after 10:00 p.m....on a school night!! Jordan had a great time which is what the whole thing is about. She did fairly well in two events...vault and bars. She still needs to work a little on her floor and beam routines but she's a hard worker so I know it'll come with time. I'm proud of you Jordan!

For anyone who cares, here's the rest of the pictures.

Must Blog More

I just can't seem to get the hang of keeping a journal...electronic or otherwise. I seem to have it in my head that I should only record the bigger events here when in actuality the whole reason I started this darn thing was to capture the everyday moments to help me remember those down the road. I'm more likely to remember the bigger things without writing them down. The little things are the ones I'm going to need help recalling.

So in that vein...here's two mundane things from yesterday:

1. 30 Minute Meals was TiVoing and Jensen was standing in front of the tv watching very intently. After a few minutes I asked her, "What's Rachel making?" Jensen thought for a few minutes then finally said, "water and leaves." Cracked me up.

2. Chicken Bryan is my favorite thing to order at Carrabba's and I wanted to try to make it at home. I found this recipe online and gave it a try last night for dinner. It was awesome! Tasted just like the meal in the restaurant. Had a nice bottle of wine with it and saved ourselves quite a bit of money.

Someone please remind me to blog more...

CKU

Back from CKU! I really tried to set up a flickr account to share the photos but flickr just doesn't like me for some reason. I kept going around in circles with them saying I had to use my yahoo id but when I did that it wanted me to associate my flickr account with my yahoo account but it wouldn't ever let me log into my flickr account. And around and around. I finally gave up and just put the photos on the yahoo photos thing. Here they are...and they're not all that exciting.

I agree with Heather that I really liked CKU-Albums that we went to last year much better. This year, I just didn't really learn much of anything new. I made a few cute pages that I'll definitely use and I did get quite a few handy tips from the two photography-related classes, but I don't think those things were worth the tuition. Plus, I feel like we got quite a bit less product this time around. All that said, I still had a great time with 3 great girls and I'd spend a partying weekend at the Galleria with them anytime!

As usual, Jim did a great job with the kids while I was gone. It makes it so much better to go away for the weekend when I know I don't have to worry about anything at home. It's almost like they don't really need me...hmmmm. Anyway, I missed them all but I'm glad that Jim gets to spend alone time with the kids as well. They do all kinds of fun things with him that they don't do with me so I know they enjoy it too.

And to top off a great weekend, guess what I won at my local Randall's grocery store last night when I went in to pick up something for dinner? This!! Our store was having some sort of grand re-opening celebration this past weekend where they had all sorts of promotions going on. Of course, I didn't really know anything about it since I was gone all weekend. The cashier rang up my stuff and it popped up on her screen that I was an instant ipod winner! Jordan's been wanting an ipod forever but we've resisted (I mean, she's only 9!). But I'm taking this as a sign and we're going to give it to her for Christmas. She'll be soooo happy!

12 on the 12th...September 2006

I wanted to get this posted closer to the actual date, but just didn't get to it. Here it is now.

1. This photo was taken at about 6:20 a.m. as Jim was leaving for the airport. Not an unusual scene by any stretch.

2. The never ending pile of laundry awaiting me.

3. Jordan on the way to school. Today was picture day. We had "words" about her hair. I spritzed her with hairspray and that apparently ruined her whole day.

4. Jensen insists on carrying her own backpack. She looks so little.

5. I volunteer in the library at SFE every Tuesday. Today was Jackson's class's library time. He checked out a Star Wars book.

6. These are the gates into the apartment complex we are currently living in. I go in an out of these gates about 10 or 12 times per day. They are loud and creaky when they work. Quite a few days they are just stuck open.

7. The end of the school day. Jackson and Andrew, crazy and wound up as usual.

8. Off to drop Jordan off at gymnastics practice at R/B. I'll be back to pick her up at 6:30 p.m.

9. This was my haul from about 2 hours of shopping this afternoon. I got 3 shirts and 2 pairs of earrings at Chico's. I think these are the only clothing items I've ever purchased in there. Generally not my style...don't know what happened today. I always find jewelry in there though. I love the fabric pouches they put all your jewelry purchases in. I'm all about the cute packaging. Also found a cute bag at Ann Taylor Loft. However, it's already been returned. I loved the look of it, but once I got my stuff in there it didn't look as cute. Hmmm. Maybe I need to carry less stuff.

10. Finally! Windows where there were no windows for so long.

11. Jackson's new watch. He actually got this a few days ago. He knew exactly what he wanted...a metal band with actual numbers and hands, not a "diginal" watch. His whole motivation for this purchase is so he can keep an eye on the time while we're in church. I hate to tell him that watching the clock doesn't make the time go any faster.

12. The new bag I ordered for CKU arrived today. I'm actually leaving for CKU in two days! And I'm totally not ready!

9/11

I wonder how many people are going to write about this today. Shortly after the attacks happened in 2001, I had written down all my thoughts about it, but I've since lost my notes in our fire. So I thought I'd take this opportunity on the 5 year anniversary to write about it again. I know I won't remember a lot of the details about how I felt that day and the days after but I guess some info is better than none.

That morning, I had Jackson and Jordan home...we were getting ready for school. Jordan was in preschool and Jackson in MDO. They were eating breakfast and we were watching tv. I don't remember what station it was but it was not a local channel. Probably something like nick jr or disney. Jim called from work. He was working at Enron at the time and had been at work for a while already. They had tvs everywhere in his building always turned to cnn or the financial news network. He asked if I was watching the news. Of course, I wasn't. I was probably watching Dora the Explorer or something equally innocent.

I just couldn't believe what I was seeing on the tv screen. Initially I kept thinking it had been some sort of terrible airline mistake...that had to be it. Until we saw the second airplane hit. That is when everyone knew it was being done on purpose. What kind of people would do such a thing? All this time later I still don't comprehend the motivation behind such an act.

When it was time to take the kids to school I wasn't sure what to do. I went ahead and got them in the car, and drove to Holy Comforter. I remember feeling so weird on the car ride over...like it just wasn't right to be taking them to school that day...but I felt like we should stick to our routine. All the other moms at drop off were feeling the same way but we reluctantly left our children and started to go about our day.

I had a few errands planned that morning and I remember the first place I went...Joann Fabrics. How weird is that. I remember being in the store shopping for my mundane craft items and feeling all the time that this just wasn't right. I left the store, drove back to school and picked up Jackson and Jordan right then. I just really needed them with me, in my sight.

The rest of the morning I was glued to the tv like the rest of the nation. Jim's building downtown was evacuated and everyone sent home thinking that other big buildings in large cities might be targeted. I was relieved when he finally got home. I just wanted us all to be together in the same room.

The rest of that day and evening we had the news on non-stop. I remember we were all sitting at the dinner table and Jordan asked why the tv was still on while we were eating. We weren't really sure how much to tell her about what happened (she was only 4) or how appropriate it was for her to be watching the news coverage that day. I can't remember if we turned the tv off or not...or the exact words we used to try to explain the horrible thing that had happened that day. I'm sure it wasn't adequate but we always try our best to explain things to the kids and at the same time make sure they still feel safe and protected.

Five years later I still find myself looking up at airplanes I hear passing overhead to make sure they're going to keep on going like they're supposed to. And five years later, after all the time and money the u.s. government has spent on the "war on terror" and all the military personnel that have died, I don't feel any safer than I did right after 9/11. I still feel like a similar attack could happen again at any moment in any location and it'd just be the luck of the draw if it wasn't in my city.

Gymnastics

Last week I wrote these notes:

I'm sitting at Rowland Ballard watching Jordan take a private gymnastics lesson trying to nail down her round off back handspring before her first meet next weekend. I'm so proud of her. Her coach always tells me she's one of the hardest working kids on the team. And I know that about her. She goes to gym practice 3x/week for a total of 7.5 hours and often asks to go to the extra open gym times. She (almost) never asks to skip practice and really loves it. And they are tough workouts...I could never do the conditioning she does let alone the actually gymnastics skills. I don't know (or care) how far she'll go in gymnastics, I just want her to keep on enjoying it like she does now.

After her doing gymnastics since she was 5 I can't wait for her to experience her first meet. I'm so nervous for her but she doesn't seem to be at all. No matter how it goes, I know it'll be something I'll never forget.

Well, today was the first meet. And as it turns out, she was nervous. It was a long, tiring day (much like swim meets...a lot of sitting around for very little actual competition). Jordan said at the end that she felt she didn't do well, but I was proud of her and know that she'll only improve with each meet.

The toughest aspect from my point of view was the hair! I knew it would be a fight so I started prepping Jordan a week ago about it. She would have to wear her hair in a tight bun, high on her head. If it's not a loose, low ponytail Jordan doesn't want to do it. And to top it off...we had to use gel...and of all the horrors...HAIRSPRAY! We had a few tears, and a few words, this morning while we were doing it. She felt like she looked like a dork but as it turns out, she looked exactly like all the other girls. And they were all beautiful.

I didn't get any really good pictures. Flash photography was not allowed plus I didn't bring my digi rebel...only felt like lugging my little canon elph along with the video camera...seemed like a better video event anyway rather than still photos.

The next meet is in two weeks. Can't wait to see how it goes.

I had a couple more pictures to add but blogger is just not cooperating.

End of Summer

It's here. One of the biggest signs for me is when the littlest one starts school...our preschool starts about 2 weeks after the other kids start school. Since our elementary starts in the middle of Aug...it's definitely still summer here. But now, Jensen has started and it's after Labor Day so summer is winding down.

At first I was just wishing she could start right when the other kids did...I was ready for some kid-free time...but I actually really enjoyed those two weeks with just her. Each one of the kids is totally different when they're by themselves than when they're with any of the others. No one to fight with I guess.

Jensen is my girl-y girl...loves my "nake-up" and always wants nail polish on her fingers and toes. So, one day we went to the nail salon together. I really wish I had had my camera with me. She was soooo cute! I got a pedicure and she got her fingers and toes painted and sat there so good just waiting for it all to dry. Everyone in the salon couldn't believe how good she was.

We also got our hair cut together one day and she got such a cute cut!! I wish my hair could do this.

I finally got my salon buddy! I'm sure I'll be paying for highlights and facials by the time she's 12 so I might be regretting this introduction to the salon world. But, I'll be saving money on Jordan since I have to drag her kicking and screaming into a salon just to get her hair trimmed once a year.


The other sign that summer is over...our last trip to the beach. Although this was my first trip this year (I really don't love the beaches here in southeast texas) Jim and the kids have gone a few times. I have to admit...I had a great time even though the sand here should really just be called mud.